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Sunday, August 14, 2005
OUTDOORS: Deirdre Fleming
State angling for fishermen's input on pared-down brook trout rules
Copyright © 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. | ||||||
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Also on this page: PUBLIC HEARINGS | |||||
Brook trout have long been loved by fishermen in Maine. That's why the Legislature designated the wild game species Maine's heritage fish. State biologists know when it comes to brook trout, fishermen want their say. So after proposing that the 41 special regulations for brook trout fishing on lakes and ponds in Maine should be pared down to just eight special regulations, the state is holding public hearings to hear anglers' views. Hearings start Monday. The state has long heard complaints about how staying legal while fishing is tricky - because there are so many rules. So it decided to make it easier for fishermen, while still protecting brook trout. "We have been criticized by people who believe the regulations are too complicated," said Dennis McNeish, the state's fisheries resources planner. "Because we have so may waters, it can become confusing." Maine boasts more than 6,000 lakes and ponds. Unlike some states that have either mostly stocked fish or similar topography across the fishing region, Maine has special areas where wild brook trout flourish, and different landscape throughout its vast area. The Eastern brook trout, also called the squaretail and brookie, is native to Maine. But its size can vary depending on how cold the water is and the food supply. The average length for a 3-year-old brook trout is about 13 inches. The growing season for brook trout varies in Maine, from the frigid waters of Estcourt Station, in the very northwestern tip of Maine, to the warmer brook trout ponds in Oxford County. Because the wild brook trout is so dear to Maine outdoorsmen and women, the native fish was recently named by the Legislature as the state's "heritage fish." "That helps to shine a bright light on them," McNeish said. "As it happens in the Northeast, we have by far the most native trout waters." Regulations aimed at limiting a fishermen's daily catch will not likely be contested, McNeish said. One fisherman wrote in and asked for widespread catch and release throughout the state; another said the proposals were too liberal, McNeish said. Brook trout are a precious game fish, so a few more public hearings will be held around the state after Monday's. If the proposed regulations are approved, then the state's fisheries biologists will turn their attention to the brook trout regulations on streams and rivers - and then to streamlining regulations for other species, such as bass and landlocked salmon. Proposed brook trout regulations are: n Two general fishing law regulations allowing for a daily catch of five brook trout with a minimum length of 8 inches or, in southern counties, two brook trout; n Three quality fishing regulations that include a daily catch of two brook trout with a minimum length of 10 inches and only one greater than 12 inches, or two brook trout with only one greater than 14 inches, or one fish with a 14-inch minimum length; n Two trophy management regulations allowing a one-fish bag limit with a minimum length of 18 inches or mandatory catch and release; n One experimental regulation for a two-fish daily limit with all trout greater than 12 inches being released. It is the first time the state has changed the brook trout regulations since 1996, when new regulations were imposed on 334 of Maine's 1,103 brook trout lakes. In the five years since those regulations were passed, biologists noticed brookies living longer, growing larger, and fishermen catching more of them in the Rangeley, Moosehead, Penobscot and Fish River lakes regions. Staff Writer Deirdre Fleming can be contacted at 791-6452 or at:
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